Today's wireless broadband communication networks relay on geographically-spaced communication equipment, such as access point transceivers or antennas that communicate with local access terminals that may be mobile or fixed. The communication equipment is typically located on rigid mounting structures, and serves a particular geographic area. This requires that the communication equipment be mounted on the mounting structure and aligned such that the communication equipment properly services any access terminal within it designated geographic area.
Mounting telecommunication equipment on a mounting structure, such as a cell tower, is typically performed by a technician climbing the structure and working while being held from a cable or rope. Mounting and alignment is performed by attaching various structural members together with loose fasteners (e.g. screws, bolts, nuts, washers), and with hand tools, to provide a fixed assembly that holds the communication equipment in a particular orientation. This is expensive, time consuming, dangerous, prone to alignment errors, and prone to damage from mishandled or dropped equipment due to the precarious installation environment.
Therefore, it would be of benefit to provide a much simpler apparatus that reduces the effort needed to mount and align communication equipment to a mounting structure. It would also be of benefit to provide a safer installation procedure while reducing or eliminating the need for tools to align the equipment. It would also be of benefit to simplify installation in inclement weather, such as when the weather is cold and the installer is wearing heavy clothing/gloves, wherein alignment can be accomplished quickly, easily, and accurately without much discomfort on the part of the installer.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are typically not depicted or described in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.